1965 Ford Mustang Empire State Building Stunt

Best Promotional Stunt - The Mustang was on top of the world in 1965

Even though the Mustang was already a sales success by 1965, a little extra promotion never hurt. Thanks to Leslie Armbruster from Ford Archives, we learned about this creative Mustang publicity stunt from October 1965.

According to Armbruster, the general manager of the Empire State Building, at the time the tallest building in the world, approached Ford with the idea of displaying a Mustang on the 86th floor observation deck. Ford agreed to participate and sent a crew to New York City to take measurements of the skyscraper’s doors, hallways, and elevators. They determined that a Mustang convertible could be disassembled into four sections and transported, along with many smaller pieces, in elevators to be reassembled on the 86th floor. Three dry runs were performed in Dearborn to make sure it would work.

On October 20, 1965, the white Mustang arrived in Manhattan and a Ford crew disassembled the car on 33rd Street. By late afternoon, the reassembled convertible was on the outdoor observation deck and ready to be photographed from a helicopter. Shortly afterwards, the car was taken apart again and moved inside the glass-enclosed observation area where it remained for five months.